The Indiana Pacers stayed alive in the Eastern Conference finals with a 91-77 win over Miami Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and will return to South Florida for a winner-take-all game on Monday.
Paul George scored 28 points and Roy Hibbert added 24 and 11 rebounds as Indiana survived a furious Miami rally midway through the second half and then pulled away in the final five minutes.
“We knew they would make a run,” George said. “That’s just us staying together, being poised. We shared the ball. We made huge plays when we needed to. It’s a credit to our guys playing their hearts out.”
James led the Heat with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists but was mostly a solo performer as Miami endured a brutal offensive performance. The Heat shot 36.1 percent from the field and scored just 37 points in the second half. Indiana dominated the glass 53-32, including a 26-9 margin after halftime.
“We hate to be in this position,” James said, “but it’s an opportunity we look forward to. We worked all season to get home-court advantage. There are 30 teams that would love to have one game to advance to the NBA Finals. You can’t substitute this feeling, this atmosphere. At the end of the day, you just go out and have fun.”
Reported by Chris Goff of the Sports Xchange
